Kouzmanoff acquired for Hairston, Cunningham

UPDATE: It’s Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham going to San Diego for third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and a prospect (I’ve just learned the minor-leaguer is infielder Eric Sogard, according to a Padres source). The deal has not been officially announced and won’t be finalized until there are physicals and the usual t’s crossed.

I just spoke to Hairston, who said he doesn’t believe the deal has been finalized but he’s been told that it’s 99 percent done. He’d be thrilled to be going back to San Deigo, a spot his family enjoyed immensely. His 4-year-old son, Landon, has been asking about when Hairston would return to San Diego since they left, Hairston said, most recently two days ago.

Hairston has been gone from San Diego all of six months. “It’s just crazy,” he said.

Hairston’s best friend with the Padres? Kouzmanoff.

“He called me earlier and said he was coming to Oakland and I was real happy, like, ‘Yeah! We get to be teammates again,’ ” Hairston said with a laugh. “Then I found out it’s me going to San Diego.”

I also spoke to Cunningham, who is not at all unhappy about the deal. First of all, Cunningham said, he loves San Diego. Second, he realized that the A’s have a backlog of outfielders, most recently signing Coco Crisp and trading for hotshot prospect Michael Taylor.

“It was definitely discouraging to see what was going on,” Cunningham said. “But I figured they’d probably give up a few of us at some point and I just hoped I’d get a better opportunity. If it wasn’t for the A’s, though, I might not have made it to the big leagues as quickly as I did and I thank them for that.”

This is the third time Cunningham has been traded. He went from the White Sox to Arizona and then came to Oakland in the Dan Haren deal. “I’m getting used to it,” he said.

original post

I am hearing that the A’s have just acquired third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff from the Padres in exchange for…..former Padre Scott Hairston, the outfielder Oakland got from San Diego just last summer. I have not had this confirmed yet, but have two major-league sources that are hearing the same thing.

Apparently there are two other players in the deal, one on each side, but I’ve heard conflicting information on the names. Nothing will be announced until tomorrow at the earliest.